In two-color molding, a primary molded piece is shaped with use of a primary mold tool and is ejected therefrom, the primary molded piece is then set directly into a secondary mold tool to conduct secondary molding, and the primary molded piece and a secondary molded piece are integrated into a two-color molded product.
In a case where a film or the like is set in the mold tool upon primary molding, a molded piece can be provided with a film at the same time as molding, which is called as in-mold shaping.
If the film has a design printed thereon, the molded piece is provided with the design on a surface thereof at the time of molding. If there is used a functional film provided with an electric circuit or the like, it is possible to provide the electric circuit on the molded product at the same time as molding.
FIG. 5(a) shows a conventional two-color molded product that is composed of an integrated combination of a primary molded piece 50, a secondary molded piece 51, and a functional film 52 embedded between the molded pieces.
As shown in FIG. 5(b), which is a sectional view taken along lines A-A indicated in FIG. 5(a), such use of the functional film 52 requires an attachment region 53 to be formed for signal pickup.
In the conventional attachment region 53, the secondary molded piece 51 is shaped to be smaller than the primary molded piece 50 so as to expose, to an upper side, a part (film end 52a) of the functional film 52 in an area corresponding to the attachment region 53.
Accordingly, a cable such as a FPC (Flexible Printed Circuits) is always drawn from the upper side of the secondary molded piece 51. Symbol 52b in the figure denotes a terminal for connection with the FPC.
However, the secondary molded piece 51 for two-color molding is often used as an exterior component of a product. In such a case, the cable is desirably drawn from a lower side of the secondary molded piece 51.
In this regard, in a case where the primary molded piece 50 is shaped to be smaller than the secondary molded piece 51 in a manner contrary to the case of FIG. 5(a), the cable can be drawn from the lower side of the secondary molded piece 51.